[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CELEBRATING THE 77TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT

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                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 2015

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
77th Anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
  As you know, we can thank the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), signed 
into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, for providing workers 
with an hourly minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor protections. 
Since then, the FLSA has been amended numerous times in an attempt to 
reflect changes in the cost of living. The most recent increase was in 
2007, bringing the hourly minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to its 
current rate of $7.25 per hour.
  Unfortunately, many key components of the FLSA are outdated and have 
failed to keep pace with the demands of daily life in 2015. This 
includes the value of the minimum wage, which has decreased sharply 
over the past few years--a mere $7.25 per hour equates to $14,500 per 
year for a full-time minimum wage employee. This makes it difficult for 
individuals to support themselves and their families, forcing many 
people to live below the poverty line. Other present day workers' 
concerns include the subminimum wage for tipped workers, which has 
remained at $2.13 per hour for the past two decades. Domestic workers 
lack access to health care, paid sick days or paid time off--something 
I believe must be changed. Moreover, ``comp time'' in lieu of overtime 
pay, and break time for nursing mothers are workers' rights issues that 
need to be addressed in order to have a more productive workforce that 
can compete in a global marketplace, as well as to maintain a thriving 
society here at home.
  We just celebrated the Fair Labor Standards Act's 75th Anniversary 
two years ago, and there was a lot of positive discussion around the 
issue at that time. We must keep up this momentum and continue to fight 
for workers' rights in our increasingly global economy. People deserve 
a livable wage for a hard days' work, and we urge you to bring up 
legislation that will lift so many Americans out of poverty.

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